


i met a girl of a different kind

by wanderingaimlessly



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Succubi & Incubi, Angst, Awkward Sexual Situations, Consensual Underage Sex, Cunnilingus, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Heterosexual Sex, Implied Sexual Content, Major Original Character(s), Oral Sex, Other, Sex, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Smut, Succubus, Underage Sex, Walkers (Walking Dead), Zombie Apocalypse, blowjob, handjobs, semen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:03:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3609429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingaimlessly/pseuds/wanderingaimlessly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started as a dream. She was a dream, it was all supposed to be a dream. Until one day Carl walks into his room and finds that girl in her bed. Almost naked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this happens in place of season 5, following events of season 4. I'm going to have this take place in Alexandria. and this does not follow the TV show's plot or the comic's plot so pls dont give me shit for that this is (sort of) pure smut.

The frame was blurry, but he could see. The sound was fuzzy, but he could hear. With every step he took, the vision shifted, and every noise made seemed to echo in the room. The birds weren't singing, but they never really did anymore. There was no commotion outside for such a community. In fact, it seemed as if nobody was there but him. But he could see out of his own eyes and hear our of his own ears and it was just so _weird_ but he kept walking up the porch steps and in the front door. And then she was there. On the couch. With no pants on.

If he could hear his heart beating, it would sound like an earthquake. For some reason, all he could hear were her moans and gasps for breath and he couldn't even hear himself think. Everything was her. All her. He didn't know what to do. Living as a teenager in the zombie apocalypse didn't give him much "leisure time." Sure, he may have tried to experiment here and there, but he was never with a real girl. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he _could_ do. All he could do was watch. Watch as she pleasured herself down there, the place that was unknown to him. He didn't know what was down there. That probably explained the blurriness of it.

He gulped. She moaned. He stood there awkwardly and watched and she didn't even seem to notice. He was right there at the foot of the sofa, where her feet lay, those very feet that connected to her spread legs. He couldn't see her face. He wanted to, but he couldn't. All he could see was her blonde hair, so blonde that it was almost unnatural, shielding her breasts.

Her moans got louder. His heart pounded faster. He didn't know what she felt, but he wished that he did. He had no feeling whatsoever, not in his toes, not in his legs, not even in his hands. He couldn't move from that one spot. All he could do was see. Watch.

She laughed suddenly, and began moaning once more. Instead, she moaned words.

"Carl... come to me."

But he couldn't. He wished that he could.


	2. dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl wakes up from a dream that he's never had before. He doesn't know what to do, so he tries to forget about it by spending time with Enid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first time writing fanfiction in a while, and I have never written straight smut. so uh. yeah. prepare for weirdness.

Carl woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily. It was still dark with a hint of light outside, meaning that it must have been early morning. He pulled the covers over his head and shut his eyes, trying to recall the dream exactly. There was a girl. No face. But skin so pale that it would evaporate in the sun, the blondest hair that it could be mistaken for white, and the moans. The deep, pleasurable moans. It was no mystery to Carl what the girl was doing. He wasn't that naïve. He just wondered what it felt like.

He couldn't see her breasts or her vagina, but he didn't have to. He just thought of the moans, the way she said his name, the almost desperation in her voice. Yet she also sounded playful, almost like she was toying with him. He got that pit in the feeling of his stomach that most teenage boys got when they got excited. And voila, a tent was pitched beneath his sheets. He sighed exasperatedly. The fact that he didn't get to see her face was bothering him. It was like he needed to know what she looked like because that was what mattered to him most. He didn't know if it was normal to be more attracted to a girl's face rather than her body, or if it was better or worse. He didn't know anything. The whole apocalypse thing didn't give him enough time to experience this stuff. And he couldn't ask his dad or Michonne or Glenn because that would be weird.

He sighed again. There was no harm in doing it, right?

His hand slowly made its way down to his pajama pants. Usually the way he did this was with pants on, since he couldn't discretely masturbate in front of the group. He usually just found something to grind his hips against when he needed relief, but now that he had the privacy of his own room, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. His hand found his shaft that hardened at the thought of that girl in his dream doing the exact same thing he was doing now. He ran his thumb across the tip, feeling the electricity begin to flow throughout his entire body. The pleasure surged through his legs and his muscles tightened as he began to move his hand down the shaft. He hadn't been able to do this for so long.

"Carl... come to me." Her voice echoed in his mind. Her body. Her legs. The breasts hidden beneath her hair. He'd never seen this girl before in his life, but she was so beautiful and he was so-

His mind blanked. No, not blanked. It shifted.

"Carl-!" It was her. This was different. Not a dream. A voice. His eyes shut tight, and his vision blurred once more, but he could see. She was on that couch again. Her arm seemed to be moving faster than it was before. No, it wasn't a dream. He was awake and masturbating himself. But he could envision her and she was saying words and he couldn't tell if this was his conscience or if it was a real vision. He didn't know anything. Her moaning became louder and louder and Carl was afraid that he was moaning too. It was as if they shared the pleasure, like their bodies were one, and Carl wanted nothing more than that. He wanted to touch her, to know what it was like to touch a girl and her parts... and he wanted to be touched, to know what it was like to feel pure ecstasy at the hands of another. He felt as if she, that unknown girl who was touching herself on the living room couch, could guide him into the true pleasure the human body could feel.

He'd never felt more alive.

His vision flashed before him and white splattered in his eyes just as he came. Just in time, he was able to put his hand in front to prevent any from landing on the sheets. He was panting, not because of the euphoria, but because he wanted to cry. The girl had disappeared from his mind. No matter how hard he shut his eyes, the visions didn't come back. He couldn't even envision her hair, her skin, her voice, he recalled _nothing_.

~

Carl usually wasn't one to remember his dreams (unless they were absolutely heart-crushing dreams about losing his dad), but he couldn't get that girl out of his mind as he ate his breakfast. He stared down into his cereal and let his mind wander to last night. The corn flakes didn't seem very appetizing, but it only reminded him of her. He remembered that she had pale skin, almost translucent, white as milk. Her legs looked so smooth and he wanted to run his hands along them, to touch her and feel her and make her feel as good as she made him feel.

 _What am I thinking?_ Carl thought. There was no way he could ever get with a girl anytime soon. Sure, Enid was a girl who seemed to be a little interested, but he doubted she would want to do anything like that with him. After all, they were survivors of a zombie apocalypse, with minds filled with memories too horrible to experience pleasure from anything. His dad always told him to not get hung up on things that he couldn't control.

"Carl, you okay?" Rick asked as he walked down the stairs. He wasn't in his police outfit. Must be a lazy day. Carl nodded and took a bite of his corn flakes, hoping his dad wouldn't see that something was actually really bothering him. Then he'd get interrogated by his own dad, the sheriff, and he would have to make up a really bad lie to cover up the fact that he's been having sex dreams about a girl he's never met before. He was sure his dad understood, but it was still really, really awkward.

Rick sat down at the chair next to him. "Everything's going to shit around here," he said. "Deanna better know what she's doing. Although, with previous events, I really doubt she does."

"She's just trying to do what she thinks is best," Carl said through his cereal. "I would do the same. But I understand where you're coming from, Dad. They're weak. But... you could have turned it down a notch." Rick sighed and shook his head. Carl took another bite of his cereal. And that was their morning.

Carl didn't really have any responsibilities besides go to school at five and do his laundry and clean up after himself as usual. He'd usually just go with Enid outside the wall and eat lunch out there with her. Maybe doing that again today would get that girl from his dreams out of his head. After all, she was a dream, just a dream, nothing more than a dream. Enid wasn't. She was a real girl, still probably not willing to do any of that stuff in his dreams, but still was a girl who he could touch and feel and hear and see on an everyday basis.

As he stepped outside, he took in his surroundings. Ever since they'd arrived in Alexandria, he'd taken every moment for what it was. He couldn't take these moments for granted anymore, especially after spending years surrounded by the scent and sight of death everywhere he went. Living in fear built him up and knocked him down just the same. For the first time in a while he felt safe. He knew his dad felt the opposite, and he understood why. Both of them had seen awful things, done awful things, been through pure hell. But Carl knew that this couldn't last forever. That was why he wanted to make the best of it, while still keeping in touch with reality. And that reality was beyond the walls.

Enid was waiting for him behind Jessie's house, just like she always did. They'd sneak outside the wall and toy with the walkers, climb trees and talk about their hopes and dreams, have lunch, then head back just in time for "school," which was really just them sitting in a garage learning about science. After all, that was kind of the most relevant thing now that politics were basically destroyed by the whole apocalypse thing.

Today she told him that Ron and Mikey were inviting them to hang out at Mikey's house after school, even after all the trouble Carl's dad caused. Apparently Ron said that the kids need to stick together. Carl didn't know what that meant; he'd been surrounded by older people and everyone who was even relatively near his age died. Now that he thought about it, maybe Ron did have a point. Carl didn't see any harm in it, so he told Enid that they should go. She smiled. "I'm gonna kick your ass at Mortal Kombat." He didn't doubt that. He sucked at Mortal Kombat.

~

The two had snuck out behind the wall unnoticed with a bag full of food for their picnic. Carl could only think of the things the residents of Alexandria would tell them, but neither of them cared. They were both outsiders, so outsiders they would remain. They couldn't forget what it was like to live beyond that wall. Carl, his dad, Enid... his entire family. They all knew that, or at least Carl hoped that they did. He didn't know whether it was the rush that came to him when he broke the rules, or the need to get out of the community, or the feeling that he needed to keep all his outside skills intact, but whatever it was, he felt normal when he was outside the walls. He was sure Enid felt the same as well.

Carl followed Enid to a spot where the trees dissipated and it seemed like an open field. There was a hill covered in dead grass and some disembodied limbs, but it wasn't like they'd never seen that before. When they climbed to the top of the hill, they admired the sights before them. The gold, orange, red leaves of autumn, the trees' ragged branches spouting out like fountains. Carl wondered if flowers grew on this hill during the springtime. If that were the case, he'd want to come back to this place again and again. It was so beautiful, the sight, and spending and sharing the time and sights with a beautiful girl was even better. He looked over at Enid, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"It's so pretty up here. I can't believe we haven't explored this place. And it's such the perfect place for out lunch," she said. Carl nodded in agreement and smiled too. "Well? Wanna eat?"

The two sat and got comfortable on the blanket they'd brought. Enid removed the contents from the bag: two turkey sandwiches, apples, bottled water, and chocolate. "Wow," Carl said. "You managed to get chocolate? Where did you have to sneak in to get that?"

Enid chuckled and put her finger to her lips. "Shh, it's a secret."

As the two started eating, Carl started to feel really happy, and he didn't know why. He'd done this with Enid before, sneak out the walls and eat lunch with her, but maybe it was the change in scenery. They'd always just find some fallen trees and lean up against those, but the hill and the trees and the leaves somehow made this all the more special. Enid was so beautiful; Carl was always fascinated when he was around her, how brave she was, how beautiful, smart... Only to remember he couldn't have her. Stupid Ron.

"Carl?" Enid said.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"What will happen if we have to come back out here again?"

Carl had thought about this many times, even though he didn't want to. He always thought of the worst case scenario just in case it ever really did happen. He knew that Enid was tough enough to have made it on her own thus far, but he would hate for the both of them to have to go through all of that pain again. He didn't want to answer this question. Not while he was with her in front of all the beauty he could ever ask for, not while he was so happy. Not when he finally felt like, even if for just a few moments, he was safe. "We do what we have to do," he said simply. He couldn't possibly say what was really going through his mind. She was taken and he was angry and she was fine and he was delusional. Enid gave him a small, reassuring smile and turned back to her sandwich.

"Now it's time for me to ask a question," Carl said. "What does it mean when you have dreams about someone you've never met before?"

Enid's eyebrows scrunched, confused. "Um... that's kind of impossible. The brain only has dreams about people that you have met before. Maybe you just don't remember the person. Why do you ask?"

"I had a dream last night about somebody that I've never met before in my life. I swear, I've never met her. I mean, I couldn't even see her face, but I know I've still never met someone like that." _God, she must think I'm a psycho._

Enid shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows." She took another bite of her sandwich.

Something told him that she wasn't saying what she was thinking. They were the same after all.

~

Carl and Enid went back before the sun went down. School was going to start which, of course, was just them sitting in the garage learning about science. The teacher probably wasn't even certified, but that didn't matter, especially in a zombie apocalypse. Besides, it made the class a lot more entertaining as an adult who had no idea what they were talking about tried to pretend like they did. It mostly just led to hilarious class discussions about chemicals and explosions. Enid had told Carl that Ron had something interesting to talk about today, and Carl secretly hoped it had something to do with what to do about that girl in his dream. 

Turns out it did. 

"How are babies made?" he asked the teacher. 

"Shouldn't you kids know that by now?"

Mikey snickered and fist bumped Ron. Carl glanced over at Enid who looked quite annoyed. She must have thought Ron was much more mature than that, but they were teenage boys after all. 

~

The class was interesting. The teacher caved in eventually and explained the whole process by which a fetus was created. Carl knew all that stuff already since he had to have the "talk" with his dad after he started seeing Glenn and Maggie together. They didn't, however, go into details on how to make sex pleasurable, even though Ron tried to get the conversation to steer that way. Carl didn't know why he secretly hoped it would go in that direction. He knew it had to do with that girl from his dream, but he was trying to forget, not get stuck on it. Oh the temptation. 

The group went to Mikey's house afterwards to play video games as planned. Enid did indeed kick his ass at Mortal Kombat. 


	3. know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl, Enid, Ron, and Mikey talk about what they learned in science that day. That girl from Carl's dream comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lots of dialogue in this chapter. also I suck at describing people and i was really lazy writing this. sorry if it's annoying to read.

"My god, Carl, you really do suck at Mortal Kombat," Enid said, laughing. Ron and Mikey were laughing along, and even Carl was laughing at his inability to play video games. He remembered he loved them as a kid, but having not played them in a long time really took its toll.

"Ah, take it easy on him. He probably hasn't played video games in years," Mikey said, playfully punching Carl's shoulder. "Need to give him a little time to warm up, ya know?"

"Or I just suck at video games," Carl said, earning a laugh from the group once more. He and Enid put the controllers down, and Mikey hopped over and plopped down next to them.

"Alright kiddos, time to talk about a more interesting topic. That science class though, am I right?"

Enid rolled her eyes. "Real mature, Mike. It's just a normal human process, nothing else."

Carl just shifted where he was, uncomfortable, as he found his mind wandering back to the girl in his dream. Enid was right; it was a normal human process, but it definitely had to be something else for that girl to be feeling so much pleasure, for him to derive pleasure just from thinking about her. It had to be something else.

"Well what do you know?" Mikey asked. "You've never had sex before."

"Never have any of you douchebags. And it's not like you will anytime soon."

_Carl..._

He felt like his heart skipped a beat when he heard that girl's voice. Smooth, yet rough. Elegant, yet lewd. He couldn't describe it. It was the first time he'd ever heard a girl call his name with such euphoria, so needy. At this point he couldn't tell if it was his mind conjuring these voices or it was the real deal. The latter wasn't a likely explanation, however, although some part of him wanted this to be real. He wanted her to be real.

"Hey, you never know," Ron said. Carl wanted to gag. Enid just punched him on the shoulder just as Mikey had done to Carl.

"What does it feel like anyway?" Enid asked.

"Well, it's gotta feel different in girls than it does for guys. After all the parts are different," Ron said.

"I feel like it would hurt," Enid said.

"Duh, you're literally being penetrated. It's gonna hurt. But, I mean, isn't it supposed to feel good?" Mikey asked. The three turned to Carl, wanting his input. Carl shrugged, uncomfortable, and wanting to leave the conversation. "What do you think?"

Carl gulped. "Um... I don't know. Personally I don't really care." Ron and Mikey looked at him questioningly. It was partially a lie; it wasn't like Carl didn't care, it's just that he thought there were more important things than sex. At least to him. He was still a teenager, and he was growing up in a fucked up world where there were dead people outside those walls and nobody trusted each other anymore, especially not enough to have sex. He didn't even understand why they were having this conversation, and at such a convenient time too.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Enid asked. _Finally, somebody asked the question._

Mikey shrugged. "I dunno. We're at that age where hormones start raging and shit gets real and whatever. Plus it just seems pretty fun."

Carl sustained a chuckle. Glenn and Maggie had had sex before, he knew that. Abraham and Rosita probably did it too. But they were allowed to; they were adults. They were young teens. It just wasn't right to him.

~

She was so beautiful.

Pale, translucent, blonde. It was her, that same girl from last night. She was there again, to haunt his dreams, to tempt him with the sweet pleasure of sex. She was on the couch again, her legs bent at the foot, toes curling. A type of aura seemed to radiate off of her, gleaming and shimmering, yet blurry. Carl found himself standing at the foot of the couch looking down at her face.

_Her face._

Such smooth, soft features made their home upon her; her lips plump and defined. The perfect shade of red, a dark, seductive pink. Her eyebrows were trimmed, darker than her hair. Her eyes were droopy with lazy pleasure, and what Carl saw was something he'd never seen before. A deep shade of blue, almost unhuman, like holy jewels were placed in her eyes when she was born. Like two sapphires. Her eyes were the deepest part of the ocean, and Carl found himself mesmerized by the sight of it. Of her. Whoever she was. And she was there again, in the same place, same position, doing the same thing. But it was different this time; Carl could move.

She bit her lip. "Why not come over here with me?"

Carl swallowed the lump in his throat and took one step forward. "What, are you scared?" _Yes._ "There's no need to be. I don't bite."

She bit her lip.

 _I don't know what to do,_ Carl thought. He found himself unable to speak. "Then just come to me, and I'll show you what to do." Her voice was just like the rest of her. Beautiful, sexy, haunting and tempting. "Your friends are right, you know. It does feel really good."

_I don't... know._

She chuckled. "Virgin boys are my favorite. They never know what to do. Which means they're so much easier for me to ravish."

 _So much easier_. He felt something in him shatter. He didn't know anything. Nothing came to him. He couldn't think, couldn't speak. Everything seemed false. It was a dream, and he knew it. But he felt something about this girl. She didn't make sense. None of this made sense. Something was off.

 _No,_ he thought. _You're..._

She smirked and sat up, her royal blue eyes twinkling. "You are a tough one, aren't you?"


	4. haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl is able to pull himself out of his dream that night, but visions continue to haunt him during the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just god awful, im sorry

It happened again. Carl was starting to feel convinced that this was no coincidence. Two nights in a row he'd seen the exact same girl, doing the exact same thing in the exact same place. He finally got to see her face that night, but that made it all the more dangerous. He had a bad feeling about this girl, and whenever Carl had a bad feeling about something, it was usually a notion to follow. He didn't know if he should tell somebody, his dad, Enid, Glenn, _anybody_ who could have the slightest idea of what was happening. But maybe it was just a feeling of paranoia. It had only been two nights. Maybe his brain just really kept this girl in the back of his mind all the time. Yeah, that was probably it. That had to be it.

The sun was barely up when he awoke from that dream. He was sweating all over and his heart was racing. Whoever that girl was, she was having such an effect on him, and he couldn't stand it. Just like the previous morning, he woke with an erection. The thing was, he couldn't tell if it was against his will or not. He couldn't deny that she was beautiful, that he was attracted to her in a physical sense. But the whole thing was just so odd. He would wake up exhausted, sweating. All from a dream about a girl. He didn't know if it was a normal reaction to such a dream, but it just didn't seem that way.

Carl stood up from his bed, torn between wanting and not wanting to fall asleep again.

~

That morning Carl found his dad out of the house. He was alone to his thoughts of this girl in the world beyond, a dangerous territory that Carl couldn't comprehend. He wouldn't get to see Enid until around ten. His dad was gone. Enid was still asleep. And the visions of that girl on that very couch were still present. Carl felt his heart begin to beat faster once more.

His vision began to blur. It seemed as if black splotches filled the corners of his eyes and he couldn't see anything. The sounds of the birds and commotion outside blended in with his vision. His heart was the only thing he could hear. His lungs couldn't get any air in or out. This was something he had experienced only once before, after he was shot in the forest way back when.

"Carl?"

The thud of him hitting the floor was only just another heartbeat in his head.

"Oh my god, Carl!" Enid. Strange, he could hear. "Carl, are you okay?! Oh my god, say something!" _What's happening?_ "Carl!" Enid's hand connected with his face. He felt the sharp sting of the slap on his cheek, but couldn't respond. _Ow._ "Somebody, help! Carl's unconscious!"

There were footsteps, voices. "Out of the way!" Rick. "Carl, Carl, please be okay. Can you hear me?" _Yes._

"You're very strong, you know that?" an unfamiliar voice said. _No, I'm not._

"Yes, you are. To survive this long takes skill, willpower, hope... You have it all."

_Who are you?_

"You'll learn very soon. Don't I sound familiar at all? You have survived my nightmares, after all."

A wave of air passed through his lungs and he breathed and breathed and saw white. His eyes were in pain as if they were being ripped out of their sockets. Surrounded by black and white, his heart struggled to return to a normal pace. "He's coming back, don't worry! He's waking up!"

Carl blinked over and over to try to clear his vision. Above him he saw Carol, staring down at him with a concerned look on her face. Soon enough his dad's face appeared also, his eyes filled with worry. "Son, are you with us? Please, say something!"

"What... happened?" Carl slurred.

"Enid said you just passed out. Are you feeling okay? Do you have a fever?"

"Dad, I'm fine."

"Like hell you are, you just fainted out of nowhere!" Rick's strong arms wrapped around Carl. "I'm just glad you're awake now."

"How long was I out?" Carl asked.

"Maybe ten minutes. Not that long."

Carl sighed in relief. He felt okay now that he was awake. He remembered hearing a voice, but couldn't remember what it said. Something about being strong. For him to faint out of nowhere like that, he definitely wasn't convinced that he was strong. "Carl's okay?" Enid. Her tender voice knocked the one from his unconsciousness right from his head. "Thank God."

Rick grinned. "You sure you're okay, son?"

Carl gave him a look that said "get out now please" and nodded. Rick chuckled and walked out.

Enid helped Carl up and brought him to the couch where they both sat down. "What happened? I was just coming to talk to you and when I opened the door, you just fainted."

Carl wish he knew the answer. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I'm feeling fine now. All I remember before I passed out was that my heart was beating really hard and fast. I could hear everything around me, but I couldn't respond. And no, I'm not infected or anything like that." He looked over at Enid, her hazel eyes seemingly glassy. She looked at him with such worry that even he was starting to worry, and he didn't even know what for. She was so beautiful in a natural way. He couldn't say that about the girl in his dream. The two couldn't compare to one another, but not one was more beautiful than the other. The only difference he could find: one was real, the other wasn't.

"Are you sleeping okay?" Enid asked. Carl hesitated. He didn't know if he should tell Enid about that girl, or if he should mention the fact that he'd been having these dreams at all, especially after the coincidental conversation he'd had with Ron and Mikey the other day. He simply shrugged, and Enid pouted. "That's not a real answer. But since you didn't say yes I'm going to assume that you haven't been sleeping well. That's probably why you passed out. From exhaustion."

That made sense. Carl woke up from those dreams feeling drained and exhausted. He just didn't know why. "I've been having nightmares," he blurted. "They keep me up sometimes." That was a half lie.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Carl hesitated once more. "Um... I don't know. It's just, they're weird nightmares. And, um, well, I don't know how you'd take it." He swallowed nervously, not knowing if he should tell her the whole truth.

"Carl, if it's making you feel like this it's important and you need to tell somebody," Enid said, concern filling her expression.

He sighed. "Well, you know how I asked you if it was possible to have a dream about somebody you've never seen before?" Enid nodded. "I had a dream about a girl that I'd never met before in my life two nights ago, and I had the same dream again this past night. It's just scary and weird."

"What happened in the dream?"

Shit. Carl didn't want to make this awkward. He knew how Enid felt about this topic from the conversation they'd had last night. "It's kind of... weird. I don't know if I should tell you."

Enid smiled. "I have a feeling already. And it's okay, I won't judge."

Carl's eyes fell to the coffee table in front of him. He refused to look her in the eyes. "She was... um... touching herself. Down there." Enid burst out laughing, and Carl didn't know whether or not he should be offended.

"Most guys would consider that a dream from the heavens above," she said, still laughing. "Why would that be a nightmare to you?"

"Because," Carl explained, "it was torture. I couldn't move, couldn't see clearly. I couldn't do anything but stand there. I couldn't talk, and she was just taunting me with her body and I couldn't _do_ anything and I'd wake up sweating and exhausted and..." He trailed off, realizing his heart was starting to pound again and his breathing rate was increasing. Enid had stopped laughing.

"Calm down, Carl. This sounds like you've experienced something like this before. That's why you're so uncomfortable with it."

Carl's memory of that man with the knife exploded in his head. How he was pinned down on the ground, against his will, staring at his dad, hoping he would save him. His dad had a gun to his head. Michonne had a gun to hers. And the man above him was snickering and laughing at his pain. And no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free. Hell, his dad had to bite somebody's throat out to save him. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to block the visions from his head. "Carl?" Enid said. "Am I right?"

"Sort of," Carl murmured.

Enid looked at him sympathetically and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I won't ask anything else unless you really want to talk about stuff."

"Thank you," he mumbled. "Do you... maybe want to hang out here later after school? You can invite Ron and Mike."

He felt her smile against his shoulder. "Sure thing."


	5. surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After school that day, Carl and his friends go back to his place to find a little surprise left on his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im a really lazy human being... but kudos and comments are always welcome. thank you for all your support :)

"What's the deal? I heard you passed out today out of nowhere," Ron said on their way to school.

Carl shrugged. "Just been feeling a little under the weather. Didn't sleep a whole lot, but I'm fine, really." Ron patted his shoulder and smiled.

"You're our little soldier," he said, rubbing his head. Carl just laughed, but inside he was almost cringing at the fact that Ron thought he hadn't been through enough shit already to be called a "little soldier."

The group continued down the streets and Carl gazed around Alexandria, their new sanctuary. Tonight there was supposed to be some kind of meeting about his dad and what to do with him, and his dad had told him not to go. He was going to stay home and hang out with Enid, Ron, Mikey, and Judith, and maybe that would help him get his mind off of things. He really hoped that things with his dad would work out. He knew his dad was an honest to good person, and that the people of Alexandria were spineless and unwilling to do what needed to be done, but maybe his dad could get through to them in some way. He didn't want to be kicked out of Alexandria along with his dad. For once in a matter of years, they could live a normal life.

When the group arrived to the garage, the teacher was standing there with some papers in his hands. "Oh, hi everyone. Sorry to inform you on such short notice, but I have a meeting to attend." He glanced at Carl for a few seconds before continuing. "I have some worksheets for you to complete, so if you could just fill these out and study the material for tomorrow's quiz, that would be great. The quiz is on the male and female reproductive systems, since Mikey and Ron showed so much interest in them yesterday." His eyes fell on the two, who high-fived and smirked in response. "Textbooks and study materials are over on that shelf." With that, he waved goodbye and left the garage.

"See what you do, Ron?" Enid said, grinning. Ron shrugged and put his arm around her. He kissed her head and Carl swallowed the small lump of sadness in his throat.

"So should we get studying?" Mikey asked.

Carl thought by "studying," Mikey meant ditching his responsibilities to go back home and play video games, but he retrieved the textbooks and study materials from the shelves and handed them out to everyone. Carl looked down at the battered materials in his hands. They looked like they'd been through hell to get here, and he couldn't comprehend why since it was the apocalypse and he thought education was the least of people's worries.

After about ten minutes of reading and writing in notes on the diagrams of the reproductive systems, Carl was starting to become a little confused. He understood most of it, what the parts were and what they did, but that girl in his dream had him wondering what sex was really like. She made it seem so pleasurable, but the books made it seem so boring. Maybe that was what education was supposed to do, wipe clean the entertaining parts of learning to make the students feel like slaves to the education system of America. Yeah, that was probably it. After all, Carl had gone to school for his childhood, and that was definitely true.

"Is this it? All there is to sex?" he asked out loud.

"Pretty much. Insert penis into vagina, and bam, baby," Mikey replied, not looking up from his studying.

"I'm sure that's not all there is to it," Enid said. "I get the parts and everything and how the fetus forms and everything, but it doesn't talk about sex as an act. I don't really know how it goes or what an 'orgasm' is."

 _Finally, someone put it into words,_ Carl thought. He expected Mikey and Ron to give her an explanation, but the two just looked at each other and shrugged. "We can't really say either," Ron said. "It's different for girls than it is for boys, so if we tried to explain it to you, you'd just get even more confused since you don't have a penis."

Enid sighed in frustration and continued writing down notes. Carl did the same, and in the back of his head he swore he heard the girl from his dream laughing.

~

When the sun started to set, the group headed back to Carl's house, Mikey still carrying a textbook. Carl didn't know if Mikey was actually interested in learning this stuff or if he just wanted to stare at the diagrams of the vagina, but he didn't question it. The streets were quiet, as if the walkers took out every ounce of the living. Carl hoped that the meeting was going smoothly.

The house smelled of oranges and peaches.

The others seemed to smell it too, as when they stepped in, they began breathing in more deeply. It wasn't that artificial smell of air fresheners or body soaps or anything; it was the real deal. Carl looked into the kitchen, seeing no signs of the fruits that they smelled. "Damn, Carl. Someone's lucky to have a house that smells this good," Ron noted.

As they trekked upstairs, the smell got stronger. Not in a bad way, no, in such a good way that Carl was smiling like a fool the whole way upstairs. It was then Carl realized that the scent was coming from his room, and when he opened the door, he caught a huge whiff of it. So. Fucking. Good.

The smell was wavering between different scents of sweetness. Apples, oranges, peaches, strawberries, chocolate, even. Carl didn't expect such a combination of fragrances to smell so good, but they did, and it was heaven. That is, until his eyes fell on his bed and he realized where the scent came from.

There was a pasty white liquid trailing from the sheets out the window. Smelling around it, Carl noticed that that was the source of the smell. "What is this?" he asked aloud.

Ron dipped his fingers in the small pool on the bed. He jumped up and grimaced, wiping his hand on his jeans. "That feels so weird. Oh, god, it's warm!"

Enid knelt down at the foot of the bed and examined the fluid closely. "It definitely smells good, but for it to permeate the whole house? Weird. And why is it warm?" She took some between her fingers and rubbed them together. "It's kind of sticky too. Slippery, thick." She separated her fingers, and the liquid formed a string between them. "And oddly stringy. When it's on the bed, it's white. When it's in my hands, it's clear. Hm, weird."

"Is it really a good idea to be touching that?" Mikey asked, disgusted.

"It doesn't seem to be harmful," Enid said, still studying the fluid. "And it smells good, so..." She trailed off and raised her fingers to her mouth, licking her fingers slightly. Carl looked over to see Ron's eyes widen in surprise. "It's sweet. Like really sweet. And..." She licked her lips. "Salty?"

"Gross," Mikey said.

"It's only a hint of saltiness. Kind of good, actually. Wanna try?"

"I'm good, thanks," Mikey said. Enid looked to Ron and Carl as an offering. Ron shook his head, and Carl just stood there awkwardly, trying to decide. He was curious, of course. But when he was curious about something, it usually led to bad things.

Carl shook his head too. After Enid had lapped up the rest of it, Carl wished he hadn't.


	6. serpent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When out with Enid once again, Carl encounters a peculiar creature that seems to connect with him in a way that he can't describe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah. things will get weird. thats why i chose this website to write on bc theres so much shameless shit on here it's amazing. and if you have nothing nice to say then please dont waste my time and dont say it.  
> (also yes I ship carnid really hard don't judge me)

Carl's dreams were free from torture that night. That girl never showed up. Instead it was Enid in his dream, in a field of flowers, looking so beautiful that Aphrodite would cry mighty tears at the sight of her. And it made him sad because she was unavailable and he was having dirty thoughts about another girl and from what he knew, romance in the end of the world didn't go well. He would just have to keep dreaming. That white dress she wore reminded him of his mom's wedding gown. How both of them looked so beautiful. It was a horrible reality that his mother was dead and this vision of Enid was just a dream. He wondered, that if death was a massive dream, if the walkers dreamed too. 

He woke up feeling fine, better than he'd been feeling in days. He couldn't wait to hang out with Enid again (to be honest he couldn't care less about Ron and Mikey); he just hoped he wouldn't do anything rash with her, especially after the dreams and all that. 

When he went downstairs, Judith and his dad were gone. Maybe he'd taken her to work, or maybe he found a babysitter since Carl didn't really take the time to look after her during the day. He grinned to himself because he figured his dad knew what his situation was, that he was growing up and adapting to this new lifestyle with people his own age. To be honest, he couldn't believe it much himself.

After eating breakfast, he walked outside into Alexandria, where some of its residents were out taking their morning walks or taking their dogs out. He wondered how there could possibly be time and resources for pets here, even if it was safe from the outside. Thinking about the outside, Carl realized that it had been quite a short while since he'd experienced peril like he used to, how dangerous it was to take one step outside Alexandria, those feelings of dread whenever he'd see someone or hear of someone dying. He exhaled and closed his eyes, trying to block out those visions that were trying to impale his mind again. Of his mom, of Shane, of everyone else who had died along the way.

"Hey Carl." That voice broke him out of his small trance, and he smiled.

"Hey Enid."

"We gonna go outside the wall today?" she asked, her green eyes twinkling in the morning light.

"Yeah," Carl replied, hoping he wasn't grinning like an idiot.

"Cool, see you later!" She took off.

Short, sweet conversations like this were the moments that Carl learned to cherish. He was glad that Enid was wanting to spend the time with him, that whatever relationship they had wasn't one-sided. It had surely felt like that at the beginning. Maybe it was the fact that they'd come from the same place and perhaps seen the same things, that they both had steel armor around their hearts and skin made of stone, that they were able to connect in a way that her and Ron could not.

Surely Carl was smiling like an idiot now, that is, until he heard a sharp hiss coming from somewhere near him.

He glanced down at the bushes that decorated the front of the house, and nothing seemed to be lurking in them. That same hiss came again, so loud and distinguishable that he swore it wasn't in his head. But as he looked around once more he found nothing of the sort that could make that sound and he sighed in frustration. He had really thought for once that he wasn't losing his mind.

~

"I've wanted to climb this tree for a while now. It was just never really safe enough to," Enid said. Her legs dangled off the thick branch that the two were sat upon; she swung them gently and tapped her fingers against the bark. Carl felt the slight vibrations shake the tree and his fingers found themselves doing the same. "The world looks a little less fucked up from up here, doesn't it?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah. Although that doesn't change the fact that the world is still fucked up."

Enid rolled her eyes and slowly her fingers inched closer to his, but he didn't notice. "That's not what I said, now was it?" Carl shook his head. "There you go. After all the shit that's happened I just try to think just a tad positively, you know?"

"I don't think I can do that," Carl said honestly. "Too much has happened for that to even be considered for me." Her fingertips brushed against his ever so lightly, and he still didn't notice. "If I think positively, I get weak. Then if I get weak, then I get crushed in the end, and I won't let that happen to me or anyone else again."

"You're a good person, Carl, and I understand where you're coming from. I know what it's like." She looked down at the ground where the fallen leaves lay, where small weeds sprouted, and where old blood remained dried. "It's just that... if you think like that, you might as well be dead."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Thinking in any way, well, in the end, you end up dead. I guess I'm saying that there's no point in thinking, but what I'm really saying is that... well... give me time to think on this a little bit, okay? I'm not good with deep shit." The two laughed together and the wind blew and the sun was shining.

_Sssssshhh..._

Enid jumped slightly at the sound. "What was that?" she asked in just as much shock that Carl was in.

When Carl glanced over her shoulder, he saw the source of the sound. "Enid... we need to get down. Now."

Hanging at the end of the branch was a white snake. So white that its scales were almost unidentifiable in the sunlight. But its eyes, its eyes were so blue that it could blend in with the ocean. Its slender tongue slipped out and it moved its head in an almost hypnotic fashion. Although its eyes were locked on the humans in front of it, it did not move towards them. Though its body was only the size of an ordinary ruler, it didn't cease to terrify Carl and Enid. "It could be poisonous," Carl pointed out. "Is this where 'no sudden movements' comes in to play?"

Enid's eyes fell to the ground. "I mean... we could probably make the jump with at worst a broken bone," she whispered back. When she looked back at the snake, she saw its head slowly extending outwards. "Shit, I think it's coming this way. Maybe we should-"

_SSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!_

There was a snapping sound somewhere in the back of Carl's mind, and the next thing he knew, he heard Enid scream his name and a sharp pain in his forearm. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he whacked the snake from his arm, ripping off some of his skin as its translucent body fell to the ground. Two lines of blood slowly made their way to the surface of his skin and he winced in pain. "Shit, shit, shit..."

"Carl, we need to get down now! It could be poisonous!" Without thinking, she grabbed his hand tightly and pulled him down with her as she jumped from the branch, landing on her bicep with Carl landing on top of her. While his weight definitely took some of her breath out of her, she was glad that there didn't seem to be any other injuries. Her right bicep did hurt, but she couldn't focus on her own pain while Carl was possibly in the same or worse amount.

With her hand still in his, they ran back to Alexandria, the sun still shining, and the wind still blowing.

~

They managed to climb over the wall without anyone noticing, but they did have difficulty as they both had injuries to their arms. The two were gasping for breath and on the ground once they made it over. "Enid," Carl said, "if that snake was poisonous, shouldn't the venom be taking effect by now?"

"Probably," she said in between pants. "Why? You don't feel anything?"

"Not really," he replied. "It just stings. Other than that I feel fine. What about your arm? You did take a hard fall after all."

She grabbed her shoulder and moved it around. "Nothing I can't manage. But you should probably get that wound checked out. Don't want it getting infected or anything like that."

"I think I can take care of it myself. I'll just use some alcohol on it or something. What about you?"

"Ice and some painkillers and I'll be fine."

Carl finally caught his breath and sat up. "Thank you," he said. "For doing that."

Enid sat up as well. "Don't mention it."

~

The Beatles played in the background. The wound still stung, from the pain and from the alcohol, but it didn't sting as much as the noise in his head. That hissing that the snake made. He didn't tell his dad or anybody else about it. And no matter how hard he shut his eyes that night, he found it almost impossible to sleep.

_And I'll send all my loving to you._


	7. lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot has happened. Ron, Mikey, Deanna... they're all dead. Carl lost an eye. But Carl still finds it hard to forget that girl, even though she had been gone for a while. And then she comes back with another taunting dream...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so I've been a depressed mess for over a year so that's why I haven't been writing this... but seeing as the walking dead came to an end I felt the need to update. so yeah. forgive me for the short fillers.

"Dad...?"

His last words echoed in his mind. He had fallen to the ground and lost consciousness. He could have sworn he heard his dad scream his name, but maybe that was just his imagination.

A lot had happened. Those strange people had attacked Alexandria. So many had died. But just a little bit of death was something Carl could handle. He'd seen it all before.

And with that, that girl had disappeared from his mind. That snake bite remained, but the snake had never come back. Carl didn't know why that girl had disappeared. It was so random that he couldn't comprehend it. That is, until that one faithful night.

He could feel his head pounding as his eyes fluttered open, and he saw a face that looked so familiar that he swore he knew the person. "Carl?" The image was still forming in his eyes, but from the voice, he could tell it was female. And no matter how hard he tried to focus, his vision remained blurry.

"Don't die on me now. I still have lots to do with you."

Carl tried his best to muster the words from his mouth, but it was like his mouth had been sewn shut. He couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. _What do you mean?_ he thought.

His vision was still blurry, but he could hear, just barely. "We'll have lots of fun together, okay? Just relax... and take this one step at a time." He felt a hand rest on his thigh comfortingly as he still struggled to see. "You'll be okay. You'll be okay."

For some reason, this girl's voice comforted Carl more than his own mother had in the past. There was something about this girl that made him feel safe, even though he had no clue what was going to happen to him. He didn't even know what was going on.

"Oh, dear. Your eye."

_My eye?_ Carl thought.

"It's... it's gone.

Carl wanted to scream as all of a sudden, it all came back to him. The gunshot. The walkers. The screams. It all made sense now, why he couldn't see, why he was dreaming. Why this girl had come back as a figment of his imagination, after so long of being away.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you. I had other important business to take care of. But as soon as I... as soon as I felt your pain, I came back."

_Felt my pain?_ Carl thought.

But it was too late. The girl's voice and his vision had begun to fade. As he lost consciousness (again), he heard one thing.

"Remember me, okay?"

~*~

Rick was crying as his son lay unconscious on the mattress. Carl could hear in real life once again, but his eyes remained closed. He was so weak. His head was pounding once again. But he was able to muster up the strength to move his hand a short distance over his father's. Rick smiled at the life that Carl had shown.

Eventually, Carl got back up on his feet, with a bandage to cover his lost eye, but so much had changed. Alexandria was in ruins. Carl had no time or energy to think about that girl from his dreams, but he couldn't help but wonder what she had meant when she said that they'd have a lot of fun together.

Now that Ron was dead, Carl and Enid spent more time together. For some reason, Enid didn't seem all that bummed that her boyfriend was dead. If anything, she seemed numb. It was like nothing had happened. They stayed together, they would go out together as usual, and while the other residents of Alexandria worried about getting the place back together, Carl and Enid worried about being young. Being free. Because that's what they were supposed to do.

Enid was reading a comic book and eating a bag of chips casually. Carl tried to focus on his comic book, but the voice that had haunted him before was haunting him again. "Just leave me alone!" Carl shouted, not realizing he said it out loud.

Enid quickly looked up from her comic book and said, "What the hell, Carl?"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I just keep hearing these voices and-"

"Wait, voices? Carl, you know that's not normal. Are you sure the bullet didn't hit an important part of your brain?"

"No, at least that's what Denise said. It ricocheted off my skull and just missed my brain."

Enid bit her lip in concern. She turned back to her comic book. "You know, I'm really worried. About you."

Carl shrugged. "There's no need."

~*~

Carl and Enid parted ways when they got back to Alexandria. Before Enid left, she had given Carl a hug, so comforting that he was feeling confident as ever as he entered his house. His dad was out being the leader of Alexandria since Deanna had died. It was no wonder why Carl heard those noises when he entered the house. Nobody was home, except for him and...

"Oh, yes, right there..."

Carl inhaled sharply and his eyes widened. He had no idea who he just heard. Maybe it was Maggie. It couldn't have been Enid. His mind began to panic as the moans increased in intensity. He had not moved from his spot. His feet refused to. Whoever was there was experiencing extreme pleasure as the moans became louder and intenser. Carl swallowed the large lump in his throat as he took one step forward. It felt like a giant leap to his feet as they seemed to sink into the floor.

"Hm? Somebody home?" the voice said.

Then, _she_ sat up.

That very girl who was haunting his dreams.

She chuckled. "Oh, it's just you."


End file.
